But, the US is good and moral and just, right? A confidential army report on abuses to prisoners in Bagram, Afghanistan, includes the story of Dilawar, a 22-year old taxi driver, whose horrifying captivity and death in the hands of the US military should make any flag-waving patriot think twice:

At the interrogators' behest, a guard tried to force the young man to his knees. But his legs, which had been pummeled by guards for several days, could no longer bend. An interrogator told Mr. Dilawar that he could see a doctor after they finished with him. When he was finally sent back to his cell, though, the guards were instructed only to chain the prisoner back to the ceiling.

"Leave him up," one of the guards quoted Specialist Claus as saying.

Several hours passed before an emergency room doctor finally saw Mr. Dilawar. By then he was dead, his body beginning to stiffen. It would be many months before Army investigators learned a final horrific detail: Most of the interrogators had believed Mr. Dilawar was an innocent man who simply drove his taxi past the American base at the wrong time.

Read the full account.

Update: 05.21.05: It appears Dilawar was issued two death certificates, 17 months apart. According to University of Minnesota bioethicist, Dr. Steven Miles, the twin certificates suggest there was a coverup as to how he died.

[Image: A sketch by Thomas V. Curtis, a Reserve M.P. sergeant, showing how Dilawar was chained to the ceiling of his cell.]